1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to pet supplies. More particularly this invention relates to pet waste scoops. Specifically, the invention is directed to a scoop assembly for removing clumped waste material from pet litter boxes or from surfaces such as grass; which scoop assembly includes a detachably engageable scoop member and receptacle separated from each other by a movable door; where the door opens to permit pet waste to slide into the receptacle and closes afterward to secure the waste in the receptacle.
2. Background Information
Ever since humans domesticated dogs and cats and welcomed them into their homes, disposing of their waste products has been an issue. This issue has grown exponentially as more people now live in urban environments than ever before. In many instances pets, particularly cats are kept indoors at all times and the pets therefore have to utilize litter boxes. Litter boxes are typically filled with specially designed litter materials that form clumps around urine and feces. These litter boxes need to be cleared of pet waste on a regular basis in order to prevent unpleasant odors from overtaking the home. It is only needful for the homeowner to remove these pet waste clumps from the litter box to keep the home odor free and so that the cat will continue to use the litter box rather than go elsewhere in the house.
In the case of dogs, many pet owners will either release their animals into a yard to relieve themselves or, if a yard is not available, they will take their dogs on walks for the same purpose. Thus, instead of eliminating in a litter box, dogs may eliminate on grass, or sand or even concrete. This pet waste also has to be cleaned up.
Since it is undesirable to directly handle the pet waste clumps in litter boxes or the pet waste in grass or on other surfaces, a variety of pet letter scoops have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,111 (Bohn) discloses a scoop for animal waste. The scoop defines a plurality of apertures in a bottom wall thereof and through which unsoiled pet litter will drop back into a litter box. Alternatively, the bottom wall may be formed into a plurality of tines or fingers which are separated from each other by apertures. A collection container (i.e., a bag) is engageable with one end of a funnel on the scoop. The scoop is moved into a substantially vertical position to cause captured waste to slide down the funnel and into the bag. The weight of the pet waste causes the bag to hang downwardly from the scoop and may interfere with lifting additional pet waste from a litter box. A tongue is therefore provided on the scoop to cause the bag to be held a distance away from the scoop end of the device. Once all the waste is removed from the litter box, the bag is detached from the scoop and is disposed of. One of the problems with this device is that the user has to hold the funnel portion of the device with one hand and hold the bag in engagement with the funnel portion with the other hand when the device is being used. If the user's second hand slips during the motion where the scoop is moved to the vertical, the bag could separate from the funnel causing the waste to miss the bag and drop onto some other surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,686,360 (Platt) discloses a device comprising a scoop which has a funnel integrally formed therewith and extending outwardly from one end thereof. A bag may be pulled up around a free end of the funnel and is locked into place by way of clips provided on the exterior surface of the funnel. An upstanding wall is provided between the bottom wall of the scoop portion of the device and the bottom wall of the funnel portion of the device. The upstanding wall is provided to prevent already-gathered pet waste from sliding from the funnel back down the scoop when the scoop is used to pick up additional pet waste. The funnel is moved to a vertical position to cause the pet waste to slide through the funnel and into the bag. When the litter box is cleaned, the bag is detached from the funnel and is thrown away. One of the problems with this device is the presence of the horizontal wall. The scoop includes a gently sloped back region (adjacent the funnel) which is supposedly there to help captured pet waste to slide into the funnel. In order to move the waste from the scoop to the funnel, the device is moved to an orientation where the funnel is generally vertical. However, it is necessary for the waste to get past the now horizontally-oriented wall as it will have a tendency to just sit there on the wall. So, it is necessary for the user to give the device a little shake to dislodge the waste so that it will drop into the funnel. This, of course, could result in the waste flying completely out of the device if the “little shake” is too vigorous.
GB 2243535 (Lowrie) discloses a device having a housing that is shaped to be able to be used as a scoop. The housing defines a cavity therein and a bag is received within this cavity and is positioned so that it overlaps the rim of the housing. A rotatable barrel is received within the housing and at least a base portion thereof is accessible outside a bottom end of the housing and the bag extends into the barrel. A door is mounted at the forward-most end of the housing and is movable between an open position and a closed position. The door includes a protuberance which is engaged by a person's thumb to cause the door to pivot outwardly away from the housing and into an open position so that the housing can be used as a scoop. When the person lifts their thumb off the protuberance, the door will rotate back toward the housing, returning to the closed position. This device is suitable for picking up pet waste that is laying on grass or a sidewalk for instance, but is not suitable for sifting animal waste from a litter box as there is no way for clean litter (i.e. litter free of clumps containing pet waste) to be returned from the housing to the litter box. The device also has another problem in that it really is only suitable for one attempt at picking up the pet waste. This is because there will be a tendency for captured waste to slide back out of the housing when the housing is tipped into the appropriate position for scooping up waste. This tendency is enhanced by the gently angled front wall that is used as the scoop.
Melitta Zentralgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, a German corporation, operating under the trade name Swirl® discloses on its website a scoop for a litter box that includes a scoop portion and a receptacle portion. The scoop portion includes a handle and a grate. The scoop is used to remove pet waste from a litter box and the grate permits clean litter to be returned to the box while capturing the waste on the grate. The device is turned to a generally vertical orientation to drop captured waste into the receptacle. One of the issues with this device is that if it takes several scoops to remove all the pet waste from the litter box, each time the scoop is tipped to introduce its leading edge into the litter, there is a tendency for already captured waste to slide out of the receptacle, back down the scoop and back into the litter box. When it is desired to remove the waste from the device, the receptacle is detached from the scoop and is tipped upside-down to drop the captured waste into the garbage. It is not really necessary to detach the receptacle from the scoop in order to do this because the entire device can be tipped upside down to cause the captured waste to slide out of the receptacle. A further issue with this product is that the scoop is rounded at the front, making it quite difficult to remove waste from all regions of litter boxes as the boxes tend to be generally rectangular in shape, having vertical exterior walls and right-angled corners. Additionally, the scoop has generally non-existent side walls which will permit waste on the grate to drop back into the litter box. This system also does not easily accommodate a bag since the scoop twists onto the container like a bottle top that could rip or tear the bag during use.